Oregon cuts tally of people lacking health insurance by 10 percent in two weeks

Though Oregon's health insurance exchange is not yet up and running, the number of uninsured is already dropping thanks to new fast-track enrollment for the Oregon Health Plan.

The low-income, Medicaid-funded program has already signed up 56,000 new people, cutting the state's number of uninsured by 10 percent, according to Oregon Health Authority officials.

Though the new exchange called Cover Oregon was originally intended to be used for Oregon Health Plan enrollment, the online marketplace doesn't work yet. Instead, new Oregon Health Plan members are being enrolled using a fast-track process that was approved by the federal government in August.

Since late September the Oregon Health Authority sent out notices to 260,000 people already enrolled in the state's food stamps program since late October.

The notices informed them that based on their income reported to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, they are pre-qualified for the Oregon Health Plan in 2014. Most of them are newly eligible thanks to the state's decision to expand the program's income caps under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

To enroll, all they have to do is make a phone call or send a form consenting to be enrolled. So far, 56,000 people have done that, coming on top of more than 600,000 already enrolled.

Under the new Oregon Health Plan income eligibility rules, in 2014 individuals must earn 138 percent of the federal poverty level or less to qualify, as compared to the 100 percent cutoff this year. The new cap means monthly income of $1,322 for an individual,$1,784 for a household of two, $2,247 for a household of three, and $2,704 for a family of four.

Another change likely to boost enrollment: under new rules mandated by the federal health law, savings or property is no longer a bar to membership; application is now based strictly on income for the month in which someone applies.

Many of the new enrollees are likely to have pent-up health needs. A survey of 38,000 people on the Oregon Health Plan waiting list in 2012 found 11 percent had diabetes, 8 percent heart problems, 30 percent high blood pressure, 22 percent high cholesterol and 5 percent cancer.

Gov. John Kitzhaber issued a statement on the news crediting the state's commitment to expanding health coverage: "This is tremendous news for the thousands of Oregonians anxious to get access to quality, affordable health care.

Given the problems faced by Cover Oregon, intended to be the main path to cutting the number of uninsured next year, the state's embrace of the new fast-track program to bypass the exchange seems prescient. In an Aug. 25 letter to the federal government, Judy Mohr Peterson, director of Medical Assistance Programs for the state, wrote that the new process allows "the state to minimize reliance on new systems during the crucial start-up period and to save on outreach efforts."